Research

2017

Gaps in required curricula may explain differences in climate change views among college graduates. Vanderbilt sociologist David Hess found that the average American college student has a 17% chance of learning about climate change before graduation through required core courses. This finding may explain why having a bachelor’s degree does not necessarily affect climate change beliefs. Once in college, students are not necessarily exposed to discussion about climate change from their requirements, so the variation in teaching evolution in high schools may be the difference between college graduates who believe in climate change and those who do not.

Web-based tool will help government realistically plan for climate change. Increasing climate change effects mean that the old methods of disaster planning are becoming obsolete. With U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funding, Vanderbilt professor Mark Abkowitz and research associate professor Janey Camp are working on an online tool to update flood zones and more.

Gilligan, Vandenbergh win Morrison Prize for climate change article. Michael Vandenbergh and Jonathan Gilligan, members of Vanderbilt’s Climate Change Research Network, were recognized for their paper “Beyond Gridlock”. This award recognizes Vandenbergh’s work in creating the Climate Change Research network as well as his work in this specific paper, which discusses private environmental governance.

Vanderbilt joins Menus of Change University Research Collaborative. Vanderbilt was recently awarded membership to the Menus of Change University Research Collaborative (MCURC). Co-founded and jointly led by Stanford University and The Culinary Institute of America, MCURC is a working group of leading scholars, food service business leaders and executive chefs from invited colleges and universities who are accelerating efforts to move Americans toward healthier, more sustainable plant-forward diets.

2016

Cave study designed to solve puzzle of prehistoric megadroughts in the western U.S. Jessica Oster, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences at Vanderbilt University, is using cave deposits to reconstruct past climates. The paleoclimatologist is also setting up an educational program to involve undergraduate, graduate, and high school students in the analysis of samples, design of independent research projects, and managing and manipulating data sets.

How to make electric vehicles that actually reduce carbon. Collaboration between Vanderbilt assistant professor Cary Pint and George Washington University professor Stuart Licht created a new way to make electric vehicles that actually reduces the amount of carbon in the atmosphere instead of increasing it.

Resolving the food-energy-water trilemma. Researchers at Vanderbilt and Stanford developed a computer model that provides resource managers with the tools to visualize the differences in outcomes in food and energy with low water supply.

Wet and stormy weather lashed California coast 8,200 years ago. Using the stalagmite records, Vanderbilt assistant professor Jessica Oster and others are pioneering the use of mineral deposits in caves as proxies for the prehistoric climate. This finding is relevant to modern climate change because it might help map the effects if glaciers in Greenland and other parts of the globe melt rapidly enough to dump fresh water into the ocean.

Better models predict weather disaster outcomes, help plan recoveries. Vanderbilt professor Hiba Baroud is leading a project funded by the National Science Foundation focused on using statistical modeling to improve safety in infrastructure. Global warming means that increases in natural disasters are coming, and new infrastructure must be sound enough to hold up.

Vanderbilt offers new environmental sociology major. Vanderbilt’s Department of Sociology launched its new environmental sociology major this year as the first environmental and sustainability studies major outside the sciences at Vanderbilt, and one of the first such majors in the country.

Eight Vanderbilt researchers named ‘Inspiring Women in STEM.’ Eight Vanderbilt professors are recipients of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine’s 100 Inspiring Women in STEM Award. The award honors highly accomplished women working in science, technology, engineering or mathematics who have made a positive impact on the trajectories of other women thinking about or newly embarking on STEM careers.

Deciphering clues to prehistoric climate changes locked in cave deposits. As water seeps down through the ground it picks up minerals, most commonly calcium carbonate. When this mineral-rich water drips into caves, it leaves mineral deposits behind that form layers which grow during wet periods and form dusty skins when the water dries up. Jessica Oster, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences at Vanderbilt is a member of a small team working to use these mineral cave deposits as proxies for prehistoric climates in Tennessee.

Vanderbilt and Pittsburgh to lead new center to identify toxic chemicals. The Vanderbilt-Pittsburgh Resource for Predictive Toxicology (VPROMPT) will receive $6 million for four years to develop toxicity test procedures based on three-dimensional human cell cultures. The goal of the project is to determine the risks to human health and the environment of the approximately 80,000 common consumer chemicals.

Time when climate was topsy-turvy in Western U.S. aids climate prediction efforts. A team of scientists from Vanderbilt and Stanford universities have created the first comprehensive map of the topsy-turvy climate of the period and are using it to test and improve the global climate models that have been developed to predict how precipitation patterns will change in the future. Their efforts are described in a paper published online on Feb. 23 by the journal Nature Geoscience.

Blakely Lab named Greenest Group on Campus. The Blakely Lab was recognized for its extensive recycling efforts, including sending their data storage, such as CDs, for specialized recycling. For lab-wide gatherings, the lab orders cornstarch biodegradable utensils and plates instead of normal disposable supplies. They also conserve energy by turning off lab equipment and shutting fume hood sashes whenever possible, which use large amounts of electricity.

Michael Diamond, Vanderbilt junior, named a 2014 Udall Scholar. Based on his demonstrated commitment to environmental issues and plan to pursue a career in an environmental field, Diamond was one of 50 scholars selected from a pool of 489 outstanding candidates nominated by colleges and universities across the United States.

Nashville team’s ‘Harmony House’ scores a spot in international Solar Decathlon. Drawing from a variety of classes, students in construction management, interior design, electrical, mechanical and civil engineering will be involved in the planning, designing and building processes, which will lead to constructing a home that is greater than 600 square feet but less than 1,000 square feet in size. The home will be built on the Vanderbilt campus.

Harmony House scores in solar decathlon . Team Music City has been selected to compete in the 2015 solar decathlon. The team’s conceptual design, Harmony House, will lead to the construction of a home that is greater than 600 square feet but less than 1,000 square feet in size.<

New device stores electricity on silicon chips. Solar cells that produce electricity 24/7, not just when the sun is shining. Mobile phones with built-in power cells that recharge in seconds and work for weeks between charges. These are just two of the possibilities raised by a novel supercapacitor design invented by material scientists at Vanderbilt University that is described in a paper published in the Oct. 22 issue of the journal Scientific Reports.

Krahn receives U.S. academy’s environmental engineering certification. Steven L. Krahn, professor of the practice of nuclear environmental engineering, has been accepted by eminence into the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists as a Board Certified Environmental Engineering Member in the specialty practice of hazardous waste management.

VU professor discusses nanotechonology and its application within the fields of medicine and energy. Rizia Bardhan, one of Vanderbilt’s newest assistant professors and one of Forbes’ “30 Under 30 in Science & Innovation” recently spoke with CNN about her work in nanotechnology and its applications within the fields of medicine and energy. The plasmonic nanostructures that Bardhan is researching have many applications, including use with solar cells. Using nanotechnology, the life and efficiency of solar cells can be increased.

Meet the VU undergraduate who just might save the environment. Param Jaggi is an environmental science and economics major in the College of Arts and Science. While still in high school, he invented an algae-filled device that fits over a car’s tailpipe and turns carbon dioxide into oxygen. He is now working on a thermo-voltaic wind system that can be installed in an exhaust system to capture energy from waste air and heat.

Global efforts to reduce mercury emissions. Last year representatives of more than 140 countries agreed to the terms of a treaty called the Minamata Convention that would ban the use of mercury in switches, certain fluorescent lamps, cosmetics, most batteries and certain medical thermometers and blood pressure devices by 2020. This will hopefully decrease mercury poisoning and its toxicity to humans.

William Nordhaus speaks on the economic perspective on climate change. William Nordhaus is a professor of economics and was the first chair of the Advisory Committee for the Bureau of Economic Analysis and of the American Economic Association Committee on Federal Statistics. He also is the author Invention, Growth and Welfare, Is Growth Obsolete?, The Efficient Use of Energy Resources, Reforming Federal Regulation, Managing the Global Commons, and Warming the World, among others.

2012 and Before

Winds offer students good view of turbine action. Three faculty members and 24 students got a complete run down of the turbine siting, energy estimation, facility design, installation, operation and other engineering issues tackled in the context of setting up the site. “The visit complements their lesson plans on renewable energy and the students clearly had spent time reviewing the information on the VU/MWS Renewable Energy Showcase website,” Anilkumar said.

Grant will help professor develop battery to aid home energy use. Peter Pintauro, H. Eugene McBrayer, Vanderbilt professor, has partnered with researchers from the University of Kansas and TVN Systems, Inc. on a three-year, $1.72 million grant from the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) of the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a durable, low-cost battery capable of gathering power at off-peak hours and storing it for use during times of high demand.

Spinach power gets a major boost. Researchers from Vanderbilt have discovered a way to combine the photosynthetic protein that converts light into electrochemical energy in spinach with silicon. This produces substantially more electrical current than has been reported by previous “biohybrid” solar cells.

Winds offer students good view of turbine action. Students from the school of science and math at Vanderbilt saw a wind turbine come to life on top of love hill. The main purpose of the project is to examine the feasibility of alternative energy production through solar and wind facilities, and the expectation is that about 30kWh (kilowatt hours) of power will be generated on a daily basis.

Vanderbilt sophomore might just save the environment. Param Jaggi is has been named one of Forbes “30 under 30” due to his efforts in promoting clean air. While still in high school, he invented an algae-filled device that fits over a car’s tailpipe and turns carbon dioxide into oxygen. Now, he is working on a thermo-voltaic wind system that can be installed in an exhaust system to capture energy from waste air and heat.

Time to anticipate and adapt to climate change. Vanderbilt-hosted leadership summit concludes that despite uncertainties surrounding climate change, effective strategies that will keep the nation’s transportation systems and other critical infrastructure running in the face of the adverse impacts need to be developed.

Adsorbed in His Work. A leader in the field of adsorption, Doug LeVan, J. Lawrence Wilson Professor of Engineering and professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, seeks to improve air quality both on Earth and in space.

Video: Is Global Warming on the Back Burner? Prospects for Change. Watch video of Mike Vandenbergh, professor of law and director, Climate Change Research Network; Michael Bess, Chancellor’s Professor of History; and Beth Conklin, associate professor of anthropology, speaking at the Dec. 8, 2010, Thinking Out of the (Lunch) Box on the future of Climate Change policies and actions.

Researcher looking into energy powered by the sea. Vanderbilt’s Frank Parker suggests one of the best things the world can do to promote peace and stability in the coming century is to expand commercial nuclear power based on the extraction of uranium from the ocean.

Energy Expert Discussess the Future of Solar Power. Watch a video of Lawrence Kazmerski, Director of the National Center for Photovoltaics in the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, discussing the prospects of solar-photovoltaic (PV) technologies, arguing that this solar-electricity source is at a tipping point in the very complex realm of worldwide energy.

The New “Wal-Mart Effect.” A new study by Vanderbilt Professor of Environmental Law Michael Vandenbergh finds that U.S. companies often are pushing for environmental regulations from foreign businesses rather than lobbying national or international governments.

The Vanderbilt Climate Change Research Project. This project includes a team of faculty and graduate students who are conducting theoretical and applied research on one of the most important and most widely overlooked sources of greenhouse gases: individual and household behavior. Furthermore, the Vanderbilt Law School’s Regulatory Program is engaged in the study of how governmental activities influence public or private behavior for purposes of promoting environmental protection and public health.

Chemists receive award from ‘Popular Mechanics’. A team of Vanderbilt chemists whose work could make the light bulb passé and cut electricity consumption by half are among the recipients of Popular Mechanics magazine’s 2006 Breakthrough Awards.

Cleaning Up Coal. Scientists and policymakers might debate the existence and causes of “global warming,” but no one debates the need for clean air or the desirability of cleaning up emissions from coal-fired power plants.